Experimental research on laser propagating along an atmospheric path of 0.5 km, 1.0 km and 3.0 km was carried out in a marine surface layer. The characteristics of optical intensity fluctuation, beam wandering and atmospheric extinction were analyzed by a series of laser propagation tests at the visible (0.473 μm,0.532 μm and 0.671 μm) and mid-IR(3.8 μm) wavelength. Besides, the spectral analysis of optical intensity fluctuation reveals that the unique property dependent on the wavelength exists for laser propagation in the marine atmosphere.